AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The average temperature in the
Netherlands in 2007 matched 2006, the warmest year in 300
years, and the Dutch meteorological institute said it was a
sign of global warming.

The average temperature in 2007 was 11.2 degrees Celsius
(52.16F) which, along with 2006, is highest average since Dutch
temperatures were first measured in 1706, the KNMI institute
said on Friday. The normal annual average is 9.8 degrees.

"The most important reason for the recent high temperatures
is the slow global warming of the climate," KNMI said.

Dutch temperature records are among the oldest in the
world.

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Eight out of the ten warmest years in the Netherlands were
after 1988.